Why I Stuck With Roku After Trying FireTV

TL;DR: Amazon FireTV is a great platform, but it does not have an (official) application to access our UltraViolet Library. Too much focus on Amazon content and Ads.

Our household has been using Roku devices exclusively for many years. We recently we got the opportunity to see what it’s like to use an Amazon FireTV 2. I was curiously to see what we’ve been missing.

As a background, we use quite a few services: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu, HBO Now, Starz, PlayStation Vue, and YouTubeRed. I downloaded each corresponding application on the FireTV (if available) and compared their look and feel. Netflix, Hulu, Starz, and YouTube were nearly identical from what I could tell from my brief trial run. HBO Now was different, but I wouldn’t call it necessarily better.

First, the great stuff. The real standout was how much better the PlayStation Vue UI is. We own a PlayStation 4, and it’s very similar. There is a app called Amazon FreeTime that makes the device into a kid safe content walled garden. We don’t particularly need this feature yet, since we only have a newborn, but I can see how this feature would be useful in a few years. The OS being is based on Android, which means that there are way more games available for the FireTV vs. Roku. Namely, the Jackbox games, which are great for parties. The search with Alexa is also great and easier to use.

Now the not so great: since this is an Amazon device, Amazon Prime isn’t an app, but the first thing you see and essentially the home base. As I said earlier, Amazon Prime is just one of the many services we use. On Roku devices, all services have an even footing, and their own applications. Yes, Fandango Now gets its own menu and preference, but Roku allows you to shut it off to ignore it. On a FireTV, all other services live inside the Amazon Prime interface, essentially. Also, even worse, there is a banner ad right at the top, first thing you see, one navigation move away. Roku isn’t much better with a skyscraper ad as you navigate channels, but I found the banner and Prime show suggestions more distracting.

There there is Vudu, there is not an official app for it or any other service that accesses an UltraViolet movie library (Flixster, Fandango Now, etc.). This is what killed the possibility of a switch to the FireTV for us. We have a lot of investment in UltraViolet from all the Blu-ray digital codes we’ve redeemed over the years. Someone will say (after just reading my TL;DR above) that it’s possible to side-load the Android TV Vudu application. This isn’t an official method, a little bit of work, and there is no guarantee this will always work.

So, for the time being, after evaluating the FireTV, we are sticking with the Roku devices we already own and are used to. This device would be perfect for someone that uses Amazon Prime as their main streaming service, and buys movies and TV shows exclusively through Amazon. However, there was not enough to bring us over.